Q$.5$ Case study

Being a new leader is quite difficult because organizations often face tough

problems and challenges that need quick responses. For a new leader, this

is challenging since the atmosphere of crisis provides no time or patience for

learning. Secondly, most organizations are rigid and sticks to the old belief

that "old is gold".They do not allow room for raw talent, training, making

mistakes and experimentation. Most organizations believe that an effective

leader is that who has long years of service.

A leader as defined by some scholars refers to someone with commanding

authority and influence. Others define it as a person's ability to influence

people and groups within the organization and hence helping them set up

their goals and guide them towards achieving those goals set by the

organization $($Afsenah$,2012).$

Jack Hartnett's leadership skills encompasses all the above. Though he

appears bossy and autocratic, he puts into consideration the welfare of his

employees and listens to them. He adopts the no$-$nonsense attitude and

develops it into a culture in the organization. An organization can develop a

culture where the employees share common values and beliefs on work$-$

related issues. This is what jack does and it indeed produces results and

leads to the success of the company.

He allows his employees to balance their family life with work and when they

face problems he acts as their counselor and helps them resolve their

issues. His autocratic and intolerance enabled him to succeed. He sets the

rules which his employees must follow. He ensures that his employees are

happy because he believes that unhappy people do not produce results. As a

result, he has managed to create an organization that is dynamic and

successful.

In choosing the person to represent them, a leader needs to understand the

cultural context of the host country. Discrimination is one of the factors

influencing the leader's choice of the person to go to Saudi Arabia. In

countries like Saudi Arabia, defined by Edward Hall's model as high context

countries $($Hall$,1976),$ cultural nuances communicate more and determines

the kind of response received and if not handled well, this can lead to the

loss of a business deal. It determines whether a business deal will succeed

or not.